The 2025-26 count was 41.2% above the programme’s projection, while national prevalence remained below the elimination threshold.
India recorded 91,783 new leprosy cases in the 2025-26 financial year, compared with a target of 65,000, The Hindu reported. The Union Health Ministry confirmed the total and said prevalence stood at 0.56 cases per 10,000 people at the end of March. The national elimination threshold is fewer than one case per 10,000.
The low national average masks sharp regional differences. Chhattisgarh had the highest prevalence, at 1.66 cases per 10,000 people, followed by Jharkhand, Chandigarh, Odisha and Maharashtra. The programme threshold was still exceeded in 114 districts. Transmission interruption had been provisionally achieved in 148 districts, against a target of 300.
Other indicators also missed targets. The rate of Grade 2 Disability among new cases was 1.34 per million, compared with a target of one per million. Five states and union territories—Chandigarh, Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Odisha—accounted for 42.5% of the 1,945 reported cases with that level of disability.
Post-exposure prevention was given to 91.2% of 1.694 million eligible contacts in 2025-26, up from 71.4% of 648,000 in 2019-20, the report said. India’s programme defines elimination as a prevalence below one case per 10,000 people. That threshold does not mean there are no new cases, and the remaining regional hotspots show that transmission continues to pose a challenge.